Â
After making early gains on the battlefields, General Washington’s struggling young armies are being relentlessly pressed back by British troops and Hessian mercenaries. Among the enemy’s ranks is a mysterious force from the Covenant, a secret society of evil witches that for centuries has been pulling the strings of European history: a Hessian necromancer who drinks the power of other witches like a vampire and whose allies include devils and ghosts. Now this man seeks to sap the fighting spirit of Washington’s troops by means of a pernicious curse, chaining the souls of the dead to the spirits of the living.
Against him stand Proctor Brown and Deborah Walcott, two young patriots who lead a ragtag band of witches as much in danger from their own side as from the enemy. Proctor and Deborah must find a way to break the Hessian’s curse before the newborn revolution is smothered in its cradle—and the Covenant extends its dark dominion to the shores of America, extinguishing forever the already sputtering torch of liberty.
A Spell for the Revolution is the second book in the Traitor to the Crown trilogy. It begins in August 1776 and ends in May 1777. While it’s not necessary to read A Patriot Witch first I would recommend it. Finlay does a good job of summarizing past events and relationships without dragging the story down but this book reads like it’s the middle of a long story because of the relationship between Proctor and Deborah. He loves her and thinks she feels the same way but he can’t tell. He can’t court her properly due to the war. Proctor and Deborah spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to break the Hessian’s curse which takes some trial and error.Â
The powers of Proctor and Deborah compliment each other. Deborah has experience and more control. Proctor is more intuitive in deciding which words may serve as a better focus for his spell.
Though I wasn’t crazy about this book it wasn’t enough to keep me away from the final book in the trilogy, The Demon Redcoat.